CLACKAMAS COUNTY, OR (KPTV) -
Inner tubing down the Clackamas River is typically an enjoyable summer activity, but for a mother and her 8-year-old son, the experience became a fight for survival.
Lauren Danahy and her son Liam were thrown from their inner tubes Sunday when they reached a rapid part of the river. Immediately, Lauren surfaced and scanned the water, but Liam was nowhere in sight.
The pressure of the rapids held Liam underwater even though he was wearing a life jacket.
"Something told me to just do a blind sweep underneath the river, and I felt this fabric and I grabbed him and I just yanked him up," said Lauren.
The two made their way to land, however, the dense vegetation made it impossible to escape on foot. Trapped on land, Lauren worried about Liam becoming hypothermic from the incident, and panic started to set in.
However, only minutes passed before a group of rafters Lauren saw earlier upstream appeared and took them to safety.
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